A 20-11 third-quarter run broke open a tight game as the Wayne State women’s basketball closed out their pre-holiday schedule with a 64-53 win over the NAIA No. 24 Midland Wednesday at Rice Auditorium.
It was a close game throughout the first half, as neither team led by more than four points in the first quarter before Wayne State took a 16-13 advantage.
The Wildcats opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer from Maggie Lowe to take a 19-13 lead, but Midland rallied and used back-to-back 3-pointers from Maddie Meadows to take a 24-23 lead.
Another 3-pointer from Meadows gave Midland their final lead of the game at 27-26 with 3:18 to play in the second quarter, but Wayne State took the lead for good on a Halley Busse 3-pointer at 29-27 and took a 34-32 lead into the locker room at the half.
Wayne State opened the second half strong with a Erin Norling 3-pointer and a Brittany Bongartz layup to take a 39-32 lead. Midland got within four at 41-37 on a Maddie Egr three-point play with 7:42 to play third quarter, but the Wildcats closed the quarter strong with a seven-point surge to take a 54-43 lead into the final period.
The Wildcats scored the first basket of the fourth on a Brittany Bongartz layup to take their biggest lead of the night at 56-43 with 8:18 to play. Midland got as close as eight points at 56-48, but the Wildcats maintained a double-digit lead from then on to come away with the win and improve to 8-3 on the season.
Erin Norling led Wayne State in scoring with 19 points followed by Bongartz with 12. Egr was the top scorer for Midland with 14 points while Maddie Meadows also reached double digits with 12.
Wayne State held a 48-39 edge in rebounding over Midland thanks to 12 caroms by Andrea Larson with Haley Vesey adding nine. Norling had six assists and two steals along with Vesey.
The Wildcats are now on Christmas break and resume play on Sunday, Dec. 30, hosting 23rd ranked Augustana in a 1:30 p.m. contest at Rice Auditorium.
